Is buying a new lens for a vacation silly?

[AndrewWG]

However, at the end of the rental period, what do you have to show for the $100 you paid for the rental? Conversely, if you purchase the lens and do not like it, you can re-sell it and recoup your money. With things such as Bing.com's cashback, it is now very easy to purchase a lens, especially with a little due diligence to get a better price, and re-sell it for the same amount or more than you paid for it.

In the past year, I have purchased three lenses to "try out", and in total, even after transaction costs (excluding the cost of my time), I have profited $340 on those lenses. Obviously lens rental companies get business from people outside of Disboards. Just because a business is prospering doesn't mean it's good for the consumer. Heck, Rent-a-Centers are all over the place, but that doesn't mean they're a good idea, either.

All my propositions do require a little due diligence. If you're extremely wealthy or you place an exceedingly high value on your time, you probably are better off renting.

Seems like a worthless discussion. We are obviously from two different worlds. My 2 cents would be to rent it especially since it is a more "specialized" lens and not something in the "normal" range. I bought my Sigma 10-20mm before my cruise last year and got a lot of use of it but seem have very little use for it now. Sell it? I'm sure I could. Not worth my bother though. I don't have enough time to deal with it all. Work all day sleep all night.

 

[VVFF]

Well to me a $100 rental over a $500 purchase makes more sense. Just my personal financial situation at this time.

I can understand that people have different financial situations but this is similar to buying or leasing a car...except when you are all done you can sell a lens often for a similar cost to what you bought it at(or sometimes more).

When I was buying a car I was pressed with the choice of buying a 1 year used model or leasing a new model. In the end it was $1000 more to buy it than it was to lease it for a 39 month lease. It simply didn't make sense for me to lease and then have nothing when I could have bought it outright for $1000 more.

Lenses are even an easier choice in my opinion. If I buy that $500 lens, I get to keep it for much longer than a week or two, use it more, and in the end, I could probably sell it for $350-$400 easily. So in the end I'm out $100-$150 and I owned the lens for much longer than a rental.

Obviously this is different if the lens is out of my price range and the only way to use it would be to rent it. But I agree with Figment here, renting doesn't make sense to me.

 

[AndrewWG]

I can understand that people have different financial situations but this is similar to buying or leasing a car...except when you are all done you can sell a lens often for a similar cost to what you bought it at(or sometimes more).

When I was buying a car I was pressed with the choice of buying a 1 year used model or leasing a new model. In the end it was $1000 more to buy it than it was to lease it for a 39 month lease. It simply didn't make sense for me to lease and then have nothing when I could have bought it outright for $1000 more.

Lenses are even an easier choice in my opinion. If I buy that $500 lens, I get to keep it for much longer than a week or two, use it more, and in the end, I could probably sell it for $350-$400 easily. So in the end I'm out $100-$150 and I owned the lens for much longer than a rental.

Obviously this is different if the lens is out of my price range and the only way to use it would be to rent it. But I agree with Figment here, renting doesn't make sense to me.

Sure, if you want the trouble of selling it and have the money to buy it, then I say go for it. Sounds like the OP is going to buy it anyways. If that is the case, then that is the right decision for them. Me? I would still rent it. Waste of money? Well, I surely don't need a financial debate here since I can't even afford the vacation to begin with, never mind the lens. USUALLY I can scrape up $100 to rent a lens for some fun once in awhile.

 

[jann1033]

Again, this all depends upon how you do things. If you're paying full price from Ritz or buying from the local camera shop (or even Best Buy), of course you will lose money when you sell it.

However, if you develop an eye for the average price of completed listings on eBay, watch the new listed buy-it-now items, and quickly pounce (with Bing.com cashback - currently at 8%) when you see something 15%+ below the average price, you won't lose money when you resell. I try to resell lenses on Craigslist to eliminate eBay and Paypal fees (and any likelihood of a transaction dispute), but even if you resell on eBay, you should still pull in a slight profit.

It may all sound complicated, but it really isn't bad. Especially when learning the 'system' is the difference between a new toy and nothing.

1) anyone who has been on here a while probably knows i am nothing if not a bargain hunter (aka cheap ) so chances are anything I buy online, camera related or not, is the cheapest price going for it from a reputable dealer. i frequently look over the used equipment on photo sites and most of them are taking a loss as well. that's one thing if you have used a lens constantly for a number of years. however if, like i said in the beginning of my post, if you are only going to use it on a vacation or rarely use, that is a waste of money since not only did you have to spend the money up front, you are gambling that you will be able to sell it at all, much less make a profit. IE while i was attempting to sell one lens , a new version came out while i had it listed= market flooded with people happy to just get rid of the old version= no sale for me at any price close to what i wanted for it much less what i paid for it. if the lens is yrs/decades old you might get more than what you paid for it due to simple economics but really, no one is going to buy a used lens for the price of a new one unless they are an idiot or the seller is not being upfront that it is used.( ie never took it out of the box type of ploy)

2) you must use a different craigslist and eBay than i have. I have found in general eBay prices for popular items often go way over the going rate for auctions( and i wonder what sane person would rather buy from an eBay store and then pay more for it to boot) and the buy it now prices for new lenses are usually equal to or higher than i can find pretty much any place else online.. the only cheap new prices I see are for cheap Hong Kong junk that is just that, junk...not to mention the danger of counterfeit that even eBay admits makes up a large portion of the items for sale there. so you take a chance with eBay period. you can bid low or snipe and hope no one else sees it and maybe occasionally get a good deal but like i said i just hunt for bargains and am willing to wait for a good price rather than buy something if the price is high. maybe if someone just goes to one or two places to compare or doesn't wait till the price goes down, they assume they are getting a good deal "'cause it's on eBay". used equipment sometimes goes for a decent price there, I've bought a couple things , but that is another story and again depends on how much anyone else wants it/how trustworthy the seller is.

craigslist, i have tried to sell lenses there a few times and have had only two calls total, one to low ball me( would have been less than 1/2 the price that particular canon lens was selling for new) and one i had decided to keep the lens a while longer so didn't meet with the person. craigslist of course could depend on the area you live in. i live in an area with a very depressed economy ( has been for the last 3-4 yrs) so not much discretionary income available.

 

[ssanders79]

Is buying a new lens for a vacation silly?

Not if it is something you can afford. Going on vacation is a great excuse to get new gear.

 

[WDWFigment]

1) anyone who has been on here a while probably knows i am nothing if not a bargain hunter (aka cheap ) so chances are anything I buy online, camera related or not, is the cheapest price going for it from a reputable dealer. i frequently look over the used equipment on photo sites and most of them are taking a loss as well. that's one thing if you have used a lens constantly for a number of years. however if, like i said in the beginning of my post, if you are only going to use it on a vacation or rarely use, that is a waste of money since not only did you have to spend the money up front, you are gambling that you will be able to sell it at all, much less make a profit. IE while i was attempting to sell one lens , a new version came out while i had it listed= market flooded with people happy to just get rid of the old version= no sale for me at any price close to what i wanted for it much less what i paid for it. if the lens is yrs/decades old you might get more than what you paid for it due to simple economics but really, no one is going to buy a used lens for the price of a new one unless they are an idiot or the seller is not being upfront that it is used.( ie never took it out of the box type of ploy)

2) you must use a different craigslist and eBay than i have. I have found in general eBay prices for popular items often go way over the going rate for auctions( and i wonder what sane person would rather buy from an eBay store and then pay more for it to boot) and the buy it now prices for new lenses are usually equal to or higher than i can find pretty much any place else online.. the only cheap new prices I see are for cheap Hong Kong junk that is just that, junk...not to mention the danger of counterfeit that even eBay admits makes up a large portion of the items for sale there. so you take a chance with eBay period. you can bid low or snipe and hope no one else sees it and maybe occasionally get a good deal but like i said i just hunt for bargains and am willing to wait for a good price rather than buy something if the price is high. maybe if someone just goes to one or two places to compare or doesn't wait till the price goes down, they assume they are getting a good deal "'cause it's on eBay". used equipment sometimes goes for a decent price there, I've bought a couple things , but that is another story and again depends on how much anyone else wants it/how trustworthy the seller is.

craigslist, i have tried to sell lenses there a few times and have had only two calls total, one to low ball me( would have been less than 1/2 the price that particular canon lens was selling for new) and one i had decided to keep the lens a while longer so didn't meet with the person. craigslist of course could depend on the area you live in. i live in an area with a very depressed economy ( has been for the last 3-4 yrs) so not much discretionary income available.

1) Obviously it helps to research the lenses beforehand and see if any announcements have been made to the effect that a replacement lens is coming out. If they have, this strategy isn't the best. As soon as any announcement is made, sell the lens before the market has a chance to react. In any case, I buy used lenses, not new lenses. With paypal and my credit card both protecting me, shopping on eBay is a buyer's dream. I highly doubt this would work when buying a new lens.

2) You don't buy from an overpriced store, you buy from an individual seller who is selling a lens that they used. These people put low buy-it-now prices on the lens (presumably) because: 1) they don't know the market value of the lens, or 2) they want to get rid of it in a hurry. Sometimes, I buy packages with items I don't want (I got a "bonus" D50 with my 18-200 that I had to resell) that I have to resell. These deals are often snatched up within seconds or minutes of being listed, so you really have to develop an intelligent boolean search and watch newly listed items.

I may do other things along the way, but that's pretty much it. I've gotten flipping things down to a science, and it typically provides me a nice (well, nice by student standards) supplemental income.